Tag: Proposition 8

In an essay published in The Guardian after the U.S. Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision, Chelsea Manning traced the arc of progress on the issue of LGBT rights, starting from the moment California’s controversial Proposition 8 was passed in 2008 to Friday’s stunning SCOTUS victory.

Thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry, California’s Proposition 8 ballot initiative that barred same-sex marriage in the state is no more. But the measure’s supporters are once again up in arms after the Golden State resumed allowing gay couples to wed Friday. (UPDATED)

How proponents of marriage equality and progressives generally proceed from this point depends on understanding exactly what Wednesday’s decisions on DOMA and Proposition 8 said and didn’t say. To do that, we must look beyond the headlines.

On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court issued decisions on a pair of landmark same-sex marriage cases, striking down the Defense of Marriage Act while ruling the proponents of California’s Proposition 8 lacked standing to argue the case in federal courts.

A look at the day’s political happenings, including PolitiFact considers possible outcomes for Wednesday’s Supreme Court same-sex marriage decisions and “The Daily Show’s” John Oliver takes aim at the media and the government over whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

After spending an estimated $20 million and employing 77 people full time to ban gay marriage in California with Proposition 8 in 2008, the church’s political surrender on the issue has enabled a cultural shift that is spreading rapidly across the United States.

One of the top arguments that those who oppose allowing gay couples to wed routinely give is that it would be a “threat” to the marriage of straight couples. What happens when attendees at an anti-marriage equality rally Tuesday were asked about it, however, paints a different picture.

Roberts’ cousin is a lesbian who wishes to wed her partner. She currently can’t, however, because of Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that bars same-sex couples from marrying in the state. The Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to Proposition 8 this week.

The man who has played the good, the bad and the ugly both in Hollywood and American politics has come out in favor of same-sex marriage as he added his name to a legal brief calling on the Supreme Court to strike down a ban on such unions.

This week, dozens of influential conservatives will submit a legal brief asking the Supreme Court to strike down Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative passed in 2008 that outlawed same-sex marriage in the state, and all other similar bans.

A look at the day’s political happenings, including President Obama’s picks to round out his national security team, Hillary Clinton’s first day back at work since suffering a concussion and Donald Trump running his mouth again.

On March 3, director Rob Reiner led an all-star cast, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Jane Lynch, Kevin Bacon, Martin Sheen and Jamie Lee Curtis, through Dustin Lance Black’s play “8,” about the court battle over marriage equality in California that was set in motion by the passage of Proposition 8 in 2008.

Just in time for a certain prefabricated, romance-related holiday that shall remain nameless, we offer you a little valentine (oops!) of our own with a Truthdigger winner who truly brought the love in one inspiring gesture he made in a federal appeals court, of all places.

In throwing out California’s notorious Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, appellate Judge Stephen Reinhardt showed the heart of a romantic and humor in a ringing defense of the often-scorned institution of marriage.

It’s an election year, so it’s time to play wedge issue roulette. Which culture war favorite is it going to be this time? Gay marriage? The Obama administration’s recent and contested decision to require Catholic organizations to provide birth control coverage to employees? Updated

Here’s some real progress and some good news: On Tuesday, a federal appeals court in San Francisco decided, in a 2-1 ruling, that California’s infamous Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban approved by voters in 2008, was unconstitutional. Now, on to the Supreme Court.

The sponsors of Proposition 8 and other contested laws are entitled to defend such measures when the state refuses to do so, the California Supreme Court declared Thursday afternoon. The ruling could push the long argument over same-sex marriage—which has wearied its proponents and adversaries—to the desks of federal judges, including those on the U.S. Supreme Court.

A candidate’s faith does in fact matter, especially when the religious institution to which he or she belongs is involved in explicit political campaigns that affect millions of lives. Such issues as civil rights for women, immigrants and the LGBT community come immediately to mind.

Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled California’s Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional. Shortly afterward, opponents of same-sex marriage called the ruling invalid, arguing that Walker’s homosexuality made him unfit to adjudicate the case. On Tuesday, another federal judge threw that argument out.

Same-sex couples hoping to tie the knot soon in California are going to have to wait awhile longer: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday rejected a request to allow gay marriages to continue as the long-term fate of Proposition 8 remains to be seen.

Screenwriter and director Paul Haggis’ public exit from the Church of Scientology continues with a long exposé in this month’s issue of The New Yorker, in which Haggis describes his troubled early years, his initial embrace of L. Ron Hubbard’s religion and the fallout ...

The path out of the proverbial closet is still riddled with potential career pitfalls for gay actors, according to veteran screen star Richard Chamberlain, who himself came out in 2003 but, as he tells The Advocate, wouldn’t recommend that closeted actors angling for leading roles follow his example.

The celebration about U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling overturning California’s Proposition 8 hardly got under way before a trio of federal appellate judges put the kibosh on it all on Monday by putting gay marriage on the shelf for the time being.

With the job market in a scary slump and a slow economy to boot, President Obama may be in for a politically treacherous time. Is Prop. 8 a human rights or a moral issue? And what’s with all the hubbub about Michelle Obama in Spain?

Those of us who were in California during the election of 2008 (and many who weren’t) remember how quickly the tide seemed to turn when it came to the expected versus real outcome of the Proposition 8 vote ... (continued)

California’s a place that may seem a little kooky, a little crunchy, and definitely more than a little liberal when viewed from some other areas of the nation, but when it comes to the issue of gay marriage, it has yet to catch up with Iowa. Or Spain.

Boy, that Justin Long has come a, uh, long way since his early “I’m a Mac” days. Why, here he is, joining the ranks of other allegedly straight actors who’ve played it gay in this humorous (and racy, workplace viewers!) PSA aimed at overturning California’s Proposition 8.

We won’t wait for the charity of corporate donors, or for the timelines of politicians. If such people care to donate funds or even to take the risk of civil disobedience, they are welcome to join us. On our own terms. But the time when gay people were grateful for small favors is over.

When you’re in a movie about a countercultural figure as big as Allen Ginsberg, it’s going to be hard to avoid the political questions, and “Howl” stars Jon Hamm and James Franco, who plays the Beat-era poet in the film, were ready to hold forth at the Sundance Film Festival about one prominent political topic of our time: California’s Proposition 8.

As her daughter Meghan did before her, Cindy McCain, registered Republican and wife of Sen. John McCain, has lent her well-known visage to the NOH8 campaign that began after the passage of California’s Proposition 8 in November 2008. The campaign’s organizers expressed their surprise that Cindy was willing to do so and gave her props for her bid to “show people that party doesn’t matter.”

Why should we care about the Proposition 8 same-sex marriage trial in San Francisco? Most people aren’t gay or lesbian. Many think marriage is unimportant. Others feel Afghanistan, unemployment, Haiti and health care are much more deserving of attention.

Bad news for anyone hoping to keep tabs on the Proposition 8 trial via YouTube: On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a ruling by a federal judge to allow streaming video coverage of the trial contesting the ban on gay marriage in California. The top court’s decision holds only until Wednesday, however, so stay tuned.

Why did voters in Maine reject a law that would have sanctioned same-sex marriage? Well, according to some marriage equality supporters, one big reason currently resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and another has to do with conservative scare tactics played out via television ad campaigns.

The Church of Scientology counts several high-profile figures from the world of entertainment among its members—Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley, to name a few—and they sometimes act as public advocates for their religion. However, one of their own, screenwriter and director Paul Haggis, has very publicly left the fold after taking issue with the church’s stance on Proposition 8.

Although Proposition 8 passed in California last year, setting back the gay marriage cause, the legal wheels are still turning to argue against the measure. On Wednesday, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court refused to stop a challenge to Proposition 8, dismissing the argument that (straight) marriage and procreation are fundamentally linked.

Having enlisted the same PR firm, Schubert Flint Public Affairs, that handled the publicity behind the pro-Proposition 8 push in California last fall, opponents of gay marriage claim to have amassed enough signatures to prevent a new law recognizing same-sex nuptials from taking effect on Sept. 12. A referendum on the issue would be held in November. Back to the voting booth, Mainers.

The anti-Proposition 8 protests were one form of gay rights activism taking place recently around Los Angeles, but a related issue was the subject of a rally led by former Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Arab linguist who was discharged from the Army National Guard earlier this month for coming out publicly: Choi wanted to remind the visiting president about his pledge to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Bad news for anti-Proposition 8 activists: As of Thursday afternoon, it appeared that the California Supreme Court was hesitant to overturn the gay marriage ban. However, it might be the case that the court will allow existing marriages to remain legally valid.